02 January 2014

X-Chromosome Matching at Family Tree DNA


What a New Year’s Celebration!  The long-awaited X-Chromosome matching has arrived at Family Tree DNA and is now fully integrated it into Family Finder matching!

Happy Dance!  Happy Dance!



But what is the X-Chromosome and how is it different?


The X-Chromosome is one of the chromosomes that determine gender. A female has two X-chromosomes (one from mom and one from dad). Males have one X-chromosome from mom as he receives the Y-chromosome from dad. The X-chromosome inherited from a mother acts like autosomal DNA in that it goes through recombination and is passed to all of a mother’s children.  A father passes a copy of his X-chromosome only to his daughters and it does not go through recombination.  Since the X-chromosome has a unique inheritance pattern, it contains genetic material from some, but not all of a person’s ancestors. The DNA from the X-chromosome is informative about both recent and deep ancestry.

The following fan charts from Blaine Bettinger’s blog are most helpful in understanding exactly who can contribute to the X-chromosome as it is inherited differently from the rest of our autosomes (those 22 other chromosomes) as well as for each gender. (Fan charts are courtesy of Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D.)







If you prefer a list of which ancestors could have contributed your X-Chromosome data, create an ahnentafel chart from your genealogy software and omit any numbered ancestors except those in the following chart.  The following numbers are the ancestors in your ahnentafel chart that have contributed to your X-Chromosome.  Share the an ahnentafel chart you created for your X-Chromosome with your X-matches  to help focus on finding the common ancestor.

Female Inheritance

1
15
43
62
106
125
183
219
246
2
21
45
63
107
126
186
221
247
3
22
46
85
109
127
187
222
250
5
23
47
86
110
170
189
223
251
6
26
53
87
111
171
190
234
253
7
27
54
90
117
173
191
235
254
10
29
55
91
118
174
213
237
255
11
30
58
93
119
175
214
238

13
31
59
94
122
181
215
239

14
42
61
95
123
182
218
245



Male Inheritance with Percentages

1
55 (12.5%)
122(6.25%)
235 (6.25%)
3 (100%)
58(12.5%)
123 (6.25%)
237 (6.25%)
6 (50%)
59(12.5%)
125 (6.25%)
238 (3.125%)
7 (50%)
61(12.5%)
126 (3.125%)
239 (3.125%)
13 (50%)
62 (6.25%)
127 (3.125%)
245 (6.25%)
14 (25%)
63 (6.25%)
213 (12.5%)
246 (3.125%)
15 (25%)
106 (12.5%)
214 (6.25%)
247 (3.125%)
26 (25%)
107 (12.5%)
215 (6.25%)
250 3.125%)
27 (25%)
109 (12.5%)
218 (6.25%)
251 (3.125%)
29 (25%)
110 (6.25%)
219 (6.25%)
254 (1.5625%)
30 (12.5%)
111 (6.25%)
221 (6.25%)
254 (1.5625%)
31 (12.5%)
117 (12.5%)
222 (3.125%)
255 (1.5625%)
53 (25%)
118 (6.25%)
223 (3.125%)

54 (12.5%)
119 (6.25%)
234 (6.25%)






Viewing the X-Chromosome at Family Tree DNA


Links for the X-Chromosome have been added to the various Family Finder pages, so navigating the pages are basically the same for locating any of your matches information.

Use the pull-down menu under Family Finder and click on Matches.




On the Family Finder Matches page, there is a filter to show only X-Matches under the Relations drop-down menu.




When you use the X-Match filter on a male Family Finder kit, you should get only matches from the maternal X-Chromosome.




Next, like other Family Finder Matches you can expand the advanced bar for a match and click to add the match to the Compare in Chromosome Browser list.




Matches are then added to the Compare in Chromosome Browser list. By clicking on the Compare arrow, you could go right to the Chromosome Browser.




You can also go right to the Chromosome Browser from the Family Finder drop-down menu to view your X-chromosome matches.



The Chromosome Browser allows you to filter the match list by X-Matches. Under the drop-down menu Filter Matches By, select the X-Matches.




Here are three immediate relatives. The first two share X-Chromosome DNA. The third (green) one does not.




When you scroll down to the X at the bottom, we see that X-Matching is displayed for the first two but not the third.




The X-Chromosome matches have also been added to the Advance Matching section. Select Advanced Matching from the Family Finder drop-down menu. An X-Chromosome link has been added here as well.




X-Match is an option that can be checked alongside other types of testing.




Now, our autosomal results are complete!  Happy Dance!  Happy Dance!

Tea for two; two for tea
X for you; X for me
Now it is possible to see
All the matches of WE!

Enjoy,
Emily Aulicino

2 Jan 2014

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